1.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north

2.
Manuel I of Portugal
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Manuel I, the Fortunate, King of Portugal and the Algarves, was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, by his wife, the Infanta Beatrice of Portugal. His name is associated with a period of Portuguese civilization that was distinguished by significant achievements both in political affairs and the arts. Manuels mother was the granddaughter of King John I of Portugal, whereas his father was the surviving son of King Edward of Portugal. In 1495, Manuel succeeded his first cousin, King John II of Portugal, Manuel grew up amidst conspiracies of the Portuguese upper nobility against King John II. He was aware of people being killed and exiled. His older brother Diogo, Duke of Viseu, was stabbed to death in 1484 by the king himself, as a result of this stroke of luck, he was nicknamed the Fortunate. Manuel would prove a worthy successor to his cousin John II for his support of Portuguese exploration of the Atlantic Ocean, during his reign, the following achievements were realized,1498 — The discovery of a maritime route to India by Vasco da Gama. 1500 — The discovery of Brazil by Pedro Álvares Cabral,1505 — The appointment of Francisco de Almeida as the first viceroy of India. 1503–1515 — The establishment of monopolies on maritime routes to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf by Afonso de Albuquerque. All these events made Portugal wealthy from trade as it formally established a vast overseas empire. Manuel used the wealth to build a number of royal buildings, commercial treaties and diplomatic alliances were forged with China and the Persian Empire. Pope Leo X received an embassy from Portugal during his reign designed to draw attention to Portugals newly acquired riches to all of Europe. In Manuels reign, royal absolutism was the method of government, the Portuguese Cortes met only three times during his reign, always in Lisbon, the kings seat. He reformed the courts of justice and the municipal charters with the crown, modernizing taxes, during his reign, the laws in force in the kingdom of Portugal were recodified with the publication of the Manueline Ordinations. Manuel also endeavoured to promote another crusade against the Turks and his relationship with the Portuguese Jews started out well. At the outset of his reign, he released all the Jews who had been made captive during the reign of John II, unfortunately for the Jews, he decided that he wanted to marry Infanta Isabella of Aragon, then heiress of the future united crown of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella had expelled the Jews in 1492 and would never marry their daughter to the king of a country that still tolerated their presence, in the marriage contract, Manuel I agreed to persecute the Jews of Portugal. In December 1496, it was decreed that all Jews either convert to Christianity or leave the country without their children, however, those expelled could only leave the country in ships specified by the king

3.
Title of nobility
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The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be largely honorary, and vary from country to country and era to era. There is often a variety of ranks within the noble class. g, san Marino and the Vatican City in Europe. Hereditary titles often distinguish nobles from non-nobles, although in many nations most of the nobility have been un-titled, some countries have had non-hereditary nobility, such as the Empire of Brazil. The term derives from Latin nobilitas, the noun of the adjective nobilis. In modern usage, nobility is applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies and it rapidly came to be seen as a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and, for example in pre-revolutionary France, enjoying fiscal and other privileges. Nobility is a historical, social and often legal notion, differing from high socio-economic status in that the latter is based on income. Being wealthy or influential cannot, ipso facto, make one noble, various republics, including former Iron Curtain countries, Greece, Mexico, and Austria have expressly abolished the conferral and use of titles of nobility for their citizens. Not all of the benefits of nobility derived from noble status per se, usually privileges were granted or recognised by the monarch in association with possession of a specific title, office or estate. Most nobles wealth derived from one or more estates, large or small and it also included infrastructure such as castle, well and mill to which local peasants were allowed some access, although often at a price. Nobles were expected to live nobly, that is, from the proceeds of these possessions, work involving manual labour or subordination to those of lower rank was either forbidden or frowned upon socially. In some countries, the lord could impose restrictions on such a commoners movements. Nobles exclusively enjoyed the privilege of hunting, in France, nobles were exempt from paying the taille, the major direct tax. In some parts of Europe the right of war long remained the privilege of every noble. During the early Renaissance, duelling established the status of a respectable gentleman, Nobility came to be associated with social rather than legal privilege, expressed in a general expectation of deference from those of lower rank. By the 21st century even that deference had become increasingly minimised, in France, a seigneurie might include one or more manors surrounded by land and villages subject to a nobles prerogatives and disposition. Seigneuries could be bought, sold or mortgaged, if erected by the crown into, e. g. a barony or countship, it became legally entailed for a specific family, which could use it as their title. Yet most French nobles were untitled, in other parts of Europe, sovereign rulers arrogated to themselves the exclusive prerogative to act as fons honorum within their realms. Nobility might be inherited or conferred by a fons honorum

4.
Duke of Goa
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The Ducal House of Goa was a short, but very important, ancient noble house of Portugal. The title Duke of Goa was the first Portuguese ducal title given outside the family. The title was bestowed upon Afonso de Albuquerque by the Portuguese King Manoel I in 1515 as a reward for his performance for the Portuguese Empire. The title and house would become extinct with Afonsos son, Brás de Albuquerque. Dukedoms of Portugal Afonso de Albuquerque Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil, memórias de Africa e do Oriente

5.
Afonso de Albuquerque
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Afonso de Albuquerque, Duke of Goa, was a Portuguese general, a great conqueror, a statesman, and an empire builder. Afonso advanced the three-fold Portuguese grand scheme of combating Islam, spreading Christianity, among his achievements, Afonso was the first European of his Renaissance to raid the Persian Gulf, and he led the first voyage by a European fleet into the Red Sea. In the expansion of the Portuguese Empire, Afonso initiated a rivalry that would become known as the Ottoman–Portuguese war, which would endure for many years. Many of the Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts in which he was directly involved took place in the Indian Ocean, in the Persian Gulf regions for control of the trade routes, and on the coasts of India. It was his brilliance in these initial campaigns against the much larger Ottoman Empire. He had a record of engaging and defeating much larger armies, for example, his capture of Ormuz in 1507 against the Persians was accomplished with a fleet of seven ships. Other famous battles and offensives which he led include the conquest of Goa in 1510 and he became admiral of the Indian Ocean, and was appointed head of the fleet of the Arabian and Persian sea in 1506. During the last five years of his life, he turned to administration and he also aided diplomatic relations with Ethiopia using priest envoys João Gomes and João Sanches, and established diplomatic ties with Persia, during the Safavid dynasty. He became known as the Great, the Terrible, the Caesar of the East, the Lion of the Seas, Afonso de Albuquerque was born in 1453 in Alhandra, near Lisbon. He was the son of Gonçalo de Albuquerque, Lord of Vila Verde dos Francos. His father held an important position at court and was connected by remote illegitimate descent with the Portuguese monarchy and he was educated in mathematics and Latin at the court of Afonso V of Portugal, where he befriended Prince John, the future King John II of Portugal. Afonso’s early training is described by Diogo Barbosa Machado, “D and he was educated in the Palace of the King D. Afonso V, in whose palaestra he strove emulously to become the rival of that African Mars”. Afonso served 10 years in North Africa, where he gained experience in fierce campaigns against Muslim powers. In 1471, under the command of Afonso V of Portugal, he was present at the conquest of Tangier and Arzila in Morocco, in 1476 he accompanied Prince John in wars against Castile, including the Battle of Toro. He participated in the campaign on the Italian peninsula in 1480 to rescue Ferdinand II of Aragon from the Ottoman invasion of Otranto that ended in victory. Afonso made his mark under the stern John II, and won campaigns in Africa. When King Manuel I of Portugal was enthroned, he showed some reticence towards Afonso, a close friend of his dreaded predecessor and seventeen years his senior. Eight years later, on 6 April 1503, after a military career and at a mature age

6.
Portuguese India
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The first viceroy, Francisco de Almeida, established his headquarters in Cochin. Subsequent Portuguese governors were not always of viceroy rank, after 1510, the capital of the Portuguese viceroyalty was transferred to Goa. Until the 18th century, the Portuguese governor in Goa had authority over all Portuguese possessions in the Indian Ocean, from southern Africa to southeast Asia. Portugal lost effective control of the enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1954, and finally the rest of the territory in December 1961. In spite of this, Portugal only recognised Indian control in 1975, after the Carnation Revolution, the first Portuguese encounter with the subcontinent was on 20 May 1498 when Vasco da Gama reached Calicut on Malabar Coast. Anchored off the coast of Calicut, the Portuguese invited native fishermen on board, one Portuguese accompanied the fishermen to the port and met with a Tunisian Muslim. On the advice of this man, Gama sent a couple of his men to Ponnani to meet with ruler of Calicut, over the objections of Arab merchants, Gama managed to secure a letter of concession for trading rights from the Zamorin, Calicuts Hindu ruler. But, the Portuguese were unable to pay the customs duties. Later Calicut officials temporarily detained Gamas Portuguese agents as security for payment and this, however, annoyed Gama, who carried a few natives and sixteen fishermen with him by force. Nevertheless, Gamas expedition was successful beyond all expectation, bringing in cargo that was worth sixty times the cost of the expedition. Matters worsened when the Portuguese factory at Calicut was attacked by surprise by the locals, Cabral also ordered his ships to bombard Calicut for an entire day in retaliation for the violation of the agreement. In Cochin and Cannanore Cabral succeeded in making advantageous treaties with the local rulers, Cabral started the return voyage on 16 January 1501 and arrived in Portugal with only 4 of 13 ships on 23 June 1501. The Portuguese built the Pulicat fort in 1502, with the help of the Vijayanagar ruler, Vasco da Gama sailed to India for a second time with 15 ships and 800 men, arriving at Calicut on 30 October 1502, where the ruler was willing to sign a treaty. Gama this time made a call to expel all Muslims from Calicut which was turned down. He bombarded the city and captured several rice vessels and he returned to Portugal in September 1503. Francisco de Almeida left Portugal with a fleet of 22 vessels with 1,500 men, on 13 September, Francisco de Almeida reached Anjadip Island, where he immediately started the construction of Fort Anjediva. On 23 October, with the permission of the ruler of Cannanore, he started building St. Angelo Fort at Cannanore, leaving Lourenço de Brito in charge with 150 men. Francisco de Almeida then reached Cochin on 31 October 1505 with only 8 vessels left, there he learned that the Portuguese traders at Quilon had been killed

7.
Lopo Soares de Albergaria
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Lopo Soares de Albergaria was the third Governor of Portuguese India, having reached India in 1515 to supersede governor Afonso de Albuquerque. Lopo Soares de Albergaria was a noble, well-connected to the powerful Almeida family. Lopo Soares had served a term as captain-general of São Jorge da Mina in the Portuguese Gold Coast. In 1504, Lopo Soares commanded the 6th Portuguese India Armada, regarded as one of the more successful early India armadas, Lopo Soares brought the fleet back in 1505 nearly intact, with one of the best cargos yet received by King Manuel I of Portugal. This placed him in a position for future preferment and appointments. In March 1515 Lopo Soares de Albergaria was chosen by king Manuel I of Portugal to supersede governor Afonso de Albuquerque, the seventeen ship fleet transported also an embassy to the Emperor of Ethiopia with Portuguese ambassador Duarte Galvão, Ethiopian ambassador Mateus and father Francisco Álvares. However, when the letter arrived, Albuquerque had already died, first Albergaria reached Aden, which offered to surrender but he felt he could not spare the men to garrison the port. The attempt to land the embassy by reaching the port of Massawa failed, with Albergaria getting no closer than the Dahlak Archipelago, Álvares and Mateus were forced to wait until Albergarias replacement, Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, successfully sent the embassy under D. In 1518 Lopo Soares de Albergaria captured Ceylon for his king, having landed at Colombo with a large fleet, here he ordered the construction of a small fort named Nossa Senhora das Virtudes or Santa Bárbara

8.
Fort Saint Anthony
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Fort Saint Anthony was a fort built by the Portuguese in 1515 near the town of Axim, in what is now Ghana. In 1642, the Dutch captured the fort and subsequently made it part of the Dutch Gold Coast, the Dutch expanded the fort considerably before they turned it over, with the rest of their colony, to the British in 1872. The fort is now the property of the Ghanaian state and is open to the public, as the westernmost fort of the Dutch possessions, Fort Saint Anthony was the first fort encountered by Dutch traders, and the place where provisions and fresh water were taken in. In contrast to many other Dutch possessions on the Gold Coast, Fort Saint Anthony was never abandoned during the 19th century, and remained occupied until 1872. After this house was destructed by local peoples, the Portuguese constructed a new post slightly more to the east, in contrast to the other forts on the Gold Coast, the authority of the commander of fort Saint Anthony reached far beyond the fort and the town of Axim. After the Dutch conquered Axim, they took over the Portuguese attempt to control the trade in the interior. However, the fort that they built for this purpose on the Akobra River, Fort Ruychaver, was blown up by its commandant only five years after its construction, after a conflict with local people. After the Dutch West India Company lost its monopoly on the trade in 1730. The commandant of Fort Saint Anthony continued to have legal jurisdiction over the mentioned indigenous states well into the 19th century. The Dutch Forts at Axim and Butre, Buildings, people, in Doortmont, Michel R. Valsecchi, Pierluigi, Anquandah, James R. The Ankobra Gold Route, Studies in the Historical Relationship between Western Ghana and the Dutch, accra, The Ankobra Gold Route Project. Sources for the history of Ghana and the Netherlands. An annotated guide to the Dutch archives relating to Ghana and West Africa in the Nationaal Archief, european and Africans in the Seventeenth Century Western Gold Coast. In Doortmont, Michel R. Valsecchi, Pierluigi, Anquandah, the Ankobra Gold Route, Studies in the Historical Relationship between Western Ghana and the Dutch. Accra, The Ankobra Gold Route Project, in Doortmont, Michel R. Valsecchi, Pierluigi, Anquandah, James R. The Ankobra Gold Route, Studies in the Historical Relationship between Western Ghana and the Dutch, accra, The Ankobra Gold Route Project. The Jurisdiction of Fort St. Anthony at Axim, in Doortmont, Michel R. Valsecchi, Pierluigi, Anquandah, James R. The Ankobra Gold Route, Studies in the Historical Relationship between Western Ghana and the Dutch, accra, The Ankobra Gold Route Project

9.
Mateus Fernandes
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Mateus Fernandes, also called Mateus Fernandes the Elder, was a Portuguese architect. He was noted for his works in the Manueline style at the Monastery of Batalha and he became master of works at the monastery of Batalha in 1490 or slightly earlier, during the reign of king John II of Portugal. Before this date, nothing is known of his private life and he succeeded the architect Fernão de Évora as architect of the monastery. Mateus Fernandes later became the architect of the next king, Manuel I of Portugal. However, Mateus Fernandes is best known for his work in Manueline style at the portal of the roofless. The exceptionally large portal rises to a monumental fifteen m by 7½ m wide and it was originally built in Late Gothic style, but was transformed beyond recognition by Fernandes into one of the first masterpieces of Manueline style. The Manueline style would then spread from Batalha throughout all Portugal, Fernandes was again original by making the sculptural aspect dominate over the architectural aspect, united in an asymmetrical composition. Mateus Fernandes has tried to represent in stone, the exuberant, in the homage of King Manuel I to his predecessor, king D. Duarte mentions his motto Leauté faray tam yaserei. This motto was then repeated more than two hundred times, carved into the arches, vaults and pillars of the chapels. Together with the architect Diogo Boitac, he rendered the Manueline style in the tracery of the screens in the ambulatory of the Royal Cloister in the Jerónimos Monastery. Fernandes also worked with Boitac to build the abattoirs of Coimbra in 1511, Boitac was another important Manueline architect and sculptor, who even became the son-in-law of Fernandes by marrying his daughter Isabel Henriques in 1512. Diogo Boitac was buried in a close by in 1528. But all this has remained conjecture, the north porch of St Mary Redcliffe at Bristol has a resemblance to his style, which is a possibility because of the frequent contacts between Portugal and England

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Portuguese Eastern empire, the Estado da Índia (State of India), with its capital in Goa, then often called in Europe as the "Rome of the East", included possessions (as subjected areas with a certain degree of autonomy) in all the Asian Subcontinents, East Africa, and in the Pacific